Morikami festival
The Morikami Museum’s annual festival comes to the defense of the misunderstood rice liquor
Hatsume Fair offers taste of Japanese culture.
When chef Roy Villacrusis appears this weekend at the Morikami Museum’s returning spring festival Hatsume Fair, priority one is debunking how sake, the popular Japanese rice liquor, should taste. He says sake has had a bad rap since its introduction as a “cheap,” hot, cloudy liquor served in American sushi bars.
“The earliest Japanese restaurants in America offered this ridiculous hot sake thing, which is disgusting and akin to drinking cheap vodka,” says Villacrusis, owner of Nitrogen Bar, Grill and Sushi in Jupiter, set to open in June. “But sake is much more exciting and complex, and we want this festival to remove that stigma. It’s the liquor of the gods.”
On the debuting culinary stage at Hatsume Fair, Saturday and Sunday in Delray Beach, Villacrusis will highlight several high-end sakes, including Dewatsuru Sakura Emaki Rose, a pink sake that resembles the color of cherry blossoms. He’ll also lead sushi demonstrations and “Wine vs. Sake,” in which he’ll discuss sake and food pairings. One of them — junmai-shu, a pure, fullbodied sake that pairs well with less fatty fish such as red snapper — is the “Sauvignon Blanc” of the sake world, he says. Meanwhile, sake specialist Midori Roth, a marketing manager for the sake brands Tozai and Konteki, will lead “Sake 101,” a primer on the rice fermentation process, and “A Day in the Life of a Sake Brewer.”
For the non-sake-drinkers in the family, the two-day Hatsume Fair will also feature a new Character Meet and Greet, where a cast of costumed characters (Yoshi, Godzilla, Donkey Kong) will strut around Morikami’s Haru Hill and take selfies with visitors. Other activities include Japanese games, plant sales, craft activities and karaoke.
Onstage, the taiko-drumming groups Ronin Taiko and Fushu Daiko will perform both days, as will martial arts demonstrators from a local dojo. More than 50 food, craft and anime booths and dealers will be set up around the Japanese gardens, organizer Samantha Levine says.
“It’s our general celebration of spring, which is not connected to any holiday. So it gives us the freedom to combine traditional culture and Japanese pop culture,” Levine says. “That’s how we’re allowed to get away with things like sake stations and Pikachu at the same festival.”